“The fate of the nation then lies in the hands of the faithful” Time Magazine, September 26, 2011. Page 27.
Greater number of Nigerians (home and abroad), have risen in unison to condemn the Abia State University gang rape. Also the Nigerian media have shown tremendous support to make sure the animals (rapists) are apprehended. The pressure from Nigerians and the Nigerian media have led to the arrest of some suspects in the rape case. Though the police is yet to give details of the arrested suspects, the writer urges Nigerians to keep the pressure. Permit me to use this medium to ask Nigerians to volunteer information that will lead to the arrests and prosecution of the remaining rapists and other criminals. An injustice anywhere is threat to justice everywhere. What affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Therefore, Nigerians owe each other the duty to cooperate in the fight against crimes.
One thing has caught my attention in the case of the Abia State University gang rape, and that is the unity amongst many Nigerian media house, online blogs, internet forums etc to catch these culprits. While fighting to make sure justice is done, the writer appeals to Nigerians, Nigerian media, NGO’s etc to adopt this approach in other crime fighting strategies. The media has a bigger to role play. First by alerting the public of criminals, by published their names and pictures. Secondly, by calling on law enforcement agencies, to act. Thirdly, keeping pressure on the law enforcement agencies and the legal system to make sure justice is done.
Security is the responsibility of all Nigerians. If the citizens do not watch over their city, the police men/women stay awake in vain. And let’s remember what Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”. More so, “The fate of the nation then lies in the hands of the faithful” Time Magazine, September 26, 2011. Page 27. It will definitely be a good idea for fellow citizens to keep surveillance and spy on people whose motives and movements appear suspicious. No price is too much to pay for our security. May God Bless Nigeria.
Chinedu Vincent Akuta.
An Activist and Citizens Journalist.
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Diaspora Resources.
Our natural resource(s) extends beyond our borders. By this, the author means, our abundant human resources in Diaspora. It’s not in doubt that over 19 million of us live in Diaspora. Therefore, before calling for foreign direct investment or calling on foreigners to come and invest in Nigeria, the first call should be on fellow Nigerians to come home and invest. After all, charity begins at home. India has experimented this model with massive economic boosts. Meanwhile, in the absence of oil revenue, remittances from Nigerians in Diaspora accounts for the second largest source(s) of foreign exchange. Who then should drive this change, for more economic boost from our folks abroad?
Government, organized private sector, NGO’s, and Nigerians should focus more on this under tapped sector of our economy. Some private sector establishments have performed creditably well in this direction. I could recall several job fairs/recruitment drives organized in UK by some many Nigerian firms. It will be a good idea for the private sector to continue, driving this initiative of tapping into our foreign human resources/reserves.
For our economy to develop, there is need for competitiveness with other emerging economies. Here our human reserves in Diaspora, comes handy to complement the human resources at home. There is also the need to inject technological and skills transfer into our system. The cheap way to do this will be to start taping into these huge resources/reserves overseas.
The author has been privileged to meet a lot of Nigerians who came to United Kingdom, looking for projects to copy and domesticate in Nigeria. The author also belongs to the school of thoughts that believes technology should be copied. The Asian tigers copied western technologies, and today their economies are even ahead of some European nations. Till date, the author is yet to see any nation prosecuted for coping technology. For those who produce Aba made etc, my advise is for them to copy better technology so as to improve on their qualities and quantities.
The author suggests synergy and sincerity between people at home and those in Diaspora. With trust and confidence, more investments will flow into our economy. It’s important for Nigerians on both sides of the divide to establish trust. The passion to come home and invest runs high in every Nigerian I have come across in the west. Lack of trust is amongst one of the stumbling blocks to foreign capital inflow.
Another reason is that, East, West, North or South, home is the best. In fact, the moment you board a foreign airline leaving Nigeria, you become a second class citizen (It doesn’t matter if you have American, British, Canadian, European or Chinese citizenships). In these circumstances, you have no choice but to appreciate home. Furthermore, when one eventually arrives the western countries, social mobility becomes too difficult. Assimilation is near impossible. Racism is rife. Xenophobia and anti immigration sentiments are on the high, examples being the mass shooting at a Norwegian youth camp and the rise of far right political groups/parties.
In all, the author understands that, there are a lot the government can do to facilitate tapping into our huge human resources/reserves in Diaspora. But for obvious reasons, let’s pretend the government do not exist and let the citizens lead this approach. May God bless Nigeria.
Chinedu Vincent Akuta.
An Activist and Citizens Journalist.
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com
Government, organized private sector, NGO’s, and Nigerians should focus more on this under tapped sector of our economy. Some private sector establishments have performed creditably well in this direction. I could recall several job fairs/recruitment drives organized in UK by some many Nigerian firms. It will be a good idea for the private sector to continue, driving this initiative of tapping into our foreign human resources/reserves.
For our economy to develop, there is need for competitiveness with other emerging economies. Here our human reserves in Diaspora, comes handy to complement the human resources at home. There is also the need to inject technological and skills transfer into our system. The cheap way to do this will be to start taping into these huge resources/reserves overseas.
The author has been privileged to meet a lot of Nigerians who came to United Kingdom, looking for projects to copy and domesticate in Nigeria. The author also belongs to the school of thoughts that believes technology should be copied. The Asian tigers copied western technologies, and today their economies are even ahead of some European nations. Till date, the author is yet to see any nation prosecuted for coping technology. For those who produce Aba made etc, my advise is for them to copy better technology so as to improve on their qualities and quantities.
The author suggests synergy and sincerity between people at home and those in Diaspora. With trust and confidence, more investments will flow into our economy. It’s important for Nigerians on both sides of the divide to establish trust. The passion to come home and invest runs high in every Nigerian I have come across in the west. Lack of trust is amongst one of the stumbling blocks to foreign capital inflow.
Another reason is that, East, West, North or South, home is the best. In fact, the moment you board a foreign airline leaving Nigeria, you become a second class citizen (It doesn’t matter if you have American, British, Canadian, European or Chinese citizenships). In these circumstances, you have no choice but to appreciate home. Furthermore, when one eventually arrives the western countries, social mobility becomes too difficult. Assimilation is near impossible. Racism is rife. Xenophobia and anti immigration sentiments are on the high, examples being the mass shooting at a Norwegian youth camp and the rise of far right political groups/parties.
In all, the author understands that, there are a lot the government can do to facilitate tapping into our huge human resources/reserves in Diaspora. But for obvious reasons, let’s pretend the government do not exist and let the citizens lead this approach. May God bless Nigeria.
Chinedu Vincent Akuta.
An Activist and Citizens Journalist.
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com
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